DXF Bar & Restaurant Challenge is back: Have you checked out these places yet?

Just about every time someone learns that you're a food writer, the inevitable questions come up. Have you been to _______ yet? What do I have to check out next? And ... What's your favorite restaurant in Detroit? (How do we even begin to answer that last one? We just met!) 

We get it, foodies are a inquisitive bunch. They like to compare notes. They're even, dare we say, a tad competitive, touting their epicurean adventures like badges of honor.

To take that to the next level, there's the Detroit Experience Factory's annual Bar & Restaurant Challenge, giving locavores a chance to see how many popular new and hidden eateries and watering holes they can hit up over the next few months. Prizes can be had just for participating, but the grand prize includes a private bar tour for 12, $100 gift certificate to Angelina Italian Bistro, and a night's stay at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center. 

The challenge kicked off July 1 and goes through September 30. Challengers register online and download the DXF's downtown or neighborhood checklists, which feature more than 600 dining establishments all over the city. Participants then take to social media, taking selfies of their favorite dishes and posting them to Instagram, using the tag @WeKnowDetroit or hashtag #DXFchallenge (organizers remind you to mention where you dined in the post).

Will we be participating? Probably not. We've got out own check list to mark off, but to the victors go the spoils (or the leftovers).